71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 2854
A-Engrossed
House Bill 2801
Ordered by the House May 22
Including House Amendments dated May 22
Sponsored by Representative PATRIDGE (at the request of Mike
Brown)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
Requires Department of Justice to { - change payee of - }
{ + divide and disburse + } child support payments
{ - from - } { + between + } obligee { - to - } { +
and + } collection agency when obligee has retained collection
agency for support enforcement services and obligee authorizes
change. { + Limits interest or fee charged by collection
agency. Requires Department of Justice to develop standardized
statement form that must be submitted by obligee to inform
Department of Justice that obligee has retained collection
agency. + }
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to support enforcement; amending ORS 25.020 and 25.125.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 25.020 is amended to read:
25.020. (1) Support payments for or on behalf of any person,
ordered, registered or filed pursuant to ORS chapter 25, 107,
108, 109, 110, 416, 419B or 419C, unless otherwise authorized by
ORS 25.030, shall be made to the Department of Justice, as the
state disbursement unit:
(a) During periods for which support is assigned pursuant to
ORS 418.032, 418.042, 419B.406 or 419C.597;
(b) As provided by rules adopted pursuant to ORS 409.021 or
under ORS 180.340, when public assistance as defined by ORS
411.010 is provided to a person who receives or has a right to
receive support payments on the person's own behalf or on behalf
of another person;
(c) After the assignment of support terminates for as long as
amounts assigned remain owing;
(d) For any period during which support enforcement services
are provided pursuant to the child support enforcement program
created by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act or pursuant to
ORS 25.080;
(e) When ordered by the court pursuant to ORS 419B.400;
(f) When a support order that is entered or modified on or
after January 1, 1994, includes a provision requiring the obligor
to pay support by income withholding; or
(g) When ordered by the court under any other applicable
provision of law.
(2) The Department of Justice shall disburse payments, after
lawful deduction of fees and in accordance with applicable
statutes and rules, to those persons and entities that are
lawfully entitled to receive such payments. { + Upon receipt of
a notarized statement from an obligee that the obligee has
retained a collection agency, as defined in ORS 697.005, for
support enforcement services, the Department of Justice shall
divide and disburse support payments to the obligee and the
collection agency according to the terms of the agreement between
the obligee and the collection agency. The collection agency may
not charge interest or a fee for its services exceeding 20
percent of each support payment received. The terms of an
agreement between an obligee and a collection agency do not apply
to support payments collected after 180 days from the date the
agreement was entered. The Department of Justice shall develop a
standardized statement form that an obligee must submit to the
Department of Justice. The statement must require the obligee to
provide sufficient information about the agreement between the
obligee and the collection agency to permit the Department of
Justice to accurately divide and disburse support payments. The
statement must contain a notice printed in type size equal to at
least 12-point type that the obligee may be eligible for support
enforcement services from the Department of Justice or the
district attorney without paying the interest or fee charged by a
collection agency. + }
(3) The Department of Justice may immediately transmit payments
received from any obligor who has not previously tendered any
payment by a check or instrument which was not paid or was
dishonored, to the obligee, without waiting for payment or
clearance of the check or instrument received.
(4) The Department of Justice shall notify each obligor and
obligee by mail when support payments shall be made to the
Department of Justice and when the obligation to make payments in
this manner shall cease. The department shall provide information
about a child support account directly to a party to the support
order regardless of whether the party is represented by an
attorney. As used in this subsection, 'information about a child
support account' includes, but is not limited to the:
(a) Date of issuance of the support order.
(b) Amount of the support order.
(c) Dates and amounts of payments.
(d) Dates and amounts of disbursements.
(e) Payee of any disbursements.
(f) Amount of any arrearage.
(g) Source of any collection.
(5) Any pleading for the entry or modification of a support
order must contain a statement that payment of support under a
new or modified order will be by income withholding unless an
exception to payment by income withholding is granted under ORS
25.396.
(6)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this subsection,
a decree or order establishing paternity or including a provision
concerning support shall contain the residence, mailing or
contact address, Social Security number, telephone number and
driver license number of each party and the name, address and
telephone number of all employers of each party.
(b) The decree or order shall also include notice that the
obligor and obligee:
(A) Must inform the court and the Department of Justice in
writing of any change in the information required by this
subsection within 10 days after such change; and
(B) May request that the Department of Human Services review
the amount of support ordered after two years or at any time upon
a substantial change of circumstances.
(c) The Department of Justice may require of the parties any
additional information that is necessary for the provision of
support enforcement services under ORS 25.080.
(d)(A) Upon a finding, that may be made ex parte, that the
health, safety or liberty of a party or child would unreasonably
be put at risk by the disclosure of information specified in this
subsection or by the disclosure of other information concerning a
child or party to a paternity or support proceeding or if an
existing order so requires, a court or administrator or hearings
officer, when the proceeding is administrative, shall order that
the information not be contained in any document provided to
another party or otherwise disclosed to a party other than the
state.
(B) The Department of Human Services shall adopt rules
providing for similar confidentiality for information described
in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph that is maintained by an
entity providing support enforcement services under ORS 25.080.
(7)(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this
subsection, in any subsequent child support enforcement action,
the court or administrator, upon a showing of diligent effort
made to locate the obligor or obligee, may deem due process
requirements to be met by mailing notice to the last-known
residential, mailing or employer address or contact address as
provided in ORS 25.085.
(b) Service of an order directing an obligor to appear in a
contempt proceeding is subject to ORS 33.015 to 33.155.
(8) Subject to ORS 25.030, this section, to the extent it
imposes any duty or function upon the Department of Justice,
shall be deemed to supersede any provisions of ORS chapters 107,
108, 109, { + 110, + } 416, 419A, 419B and 419C { - and ORS
110.303 to 110.452 - } that would otherwise impose the same
duties or functions upon the county clerk or the Department of
Human Services.
(9) Except as provided for in subsections (10), (11) and (12)
of this section, credit shall not be given for payments not made
to the Department of Justice as required pursuant to subsection
(1) of this section.
(10) The Department of Justice shall give credit for payments
not made to the Department of Justice when:
(a) Payments are not assigned to this or another state and the
obligee and obligor agree in writing that specific payments were
made and should be credited;
(b) Payments are assigned to the State of Oregon, the obligor
and obligee make sworn written statements that specific payments
were made, canceled checks or other substantial evidence is
presented to corroborate their statements and the obligee has
been given prior written notice of any potential criminal or
civil liability that may attach to an admission of the receipt of
assigned support;
(c) Payments are assigned to another state and that state
verifies that payments not paid to the Department of Justice were
received by the other state; or
(d) As provided by rule adopted pursuant to ORS 409.021 or
under ORS 180.340.
(11) An obligor may apply to the Department of Justice for
credit for payments made other than to the Department of Justice.
If the obligee or other state does not provide the agreement,
sworn statement or verification required by subsection (10) of
this section, credit may be given pursuant to order of a hearings
officer of the Department of Human Services after notice and
opportunity to object and be heard are given to both obligor and
obligee. Notice shall be served upon the obligee as provided by
ORS 25.085. Notice to the obligor may be by regular mail at the
address provided in the application for credit. A hearing
conducted under this subsection is a contested case hearing and
ORS 183.413 to 183.470 apply. Any party may seek a hearing de
novo in the circuit court.
(12) Nothing in this section precludes the Department of
Justice from giving credit for payments not made to the
Department of Justice when there has been a judicially determined
credit or satisfaction or when there has been a satisfaction of
support executed by the person to whom support is owed.
(13) The Department of Human Services shall adopt rules that:
(a) Direct how support payments that are made through the
Department of Justice are to be applied and distributed; and
(b) Are consistent with federal regulations.
SECTION 2. ORS 25.125 is amended to read:
25.125. (1) The Department of Human Services may return moneys
to an obligor when the department determines that the obligor has
paid more moneys than are due under a support obligation.
However, when the obligor has an ongoing support obligation, the
department may give the obligor credit for the excess amount paid
and apply the credit to the future support obligation until the
credit is fully used. When the department applies a credit to
offset a future support obligation, the department shall so
notify the obligee. The notice must inform the obligee that, if
the obligee requests, the department will conduct an
administrative review to determine if the record keeping and
accounting related to the calculation of the credit balance is
correct. The department shall conduct the administrative review
within 30 days after receiving the request.
(2) An overpayment in favor of the state is created when the
department, under ORS 25.020, has transmitted moneys received
from an obligor to an obligee { + or a collection agency + }, a
child support agency of another state or an agency of this state
and:
(a) The amount transmitted is more than the support obligation
requires and the department has returned the excess to the
obligor under subsection (1) of this section;
(b) The department has misapplied moneys received; or
(c) The amount transmitted is attributable in whole or in part
to a tax refund offset collection all or part of which has been
taken back by the Internal Revenue Service or the Department of
Revenue.
(3)(a) The obligee or the agency to whom the moneys were
transmitted owes the amount of the overpayment to the state. The
Department of Human Services:
(A) Shall attempt to recover the overpayment if it is
cost-effective to do so;
(B) Shall notify the obligee or the agency to whom the
overpayment was made that the obligee or agency owes money to the
state and specify the amount of the overpayment to be returned to
the department; and
(C) Shall give the obligee opportunity to object.
(b) If the obligee does not file a timely written objection,
the overpayment amount determined by the department is final and
the provisions of subsection (4) of this section apply. If the
department does not resolve an objection to an obligee's
satisfaction, a hearings officer of the department shall hear the
objection. An order by the hearings officer is final. An obligee
may appeal the decision of a hearings officer to the circuit
court for a hearing de novo.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, if an
agency of this or another state owes the overpayment, the agency
shall return the amount of the overpayment to the department
without notice and opportunity to object.
(4) The amount of the overpayment specified in subsection
(3)(a) of this section is a liquidated debt and a delinquent
amount owed to the state. The department may recover the debt by
obtaining from the obligee a voluntary assignment of a portion of
future support payments to be applied to the debt or in any other
way permitted by law.
(5)(a) In addition to the debt created under subsection (2) of
this section, a debt in favor of the state is created when:
(A) The department receives a check for support amounts due
from an obligor or withholder subject to an order to withhold
under this chapter;
(B) The department transmits the amount to the obligee, a child
support agency of another state or an agency of this state; and
(C) The check is dishonored.
(b) When a debt is created under paragraph (a) of this
subsection, the obligor or withholder who presented the check
owes the amount of money specified on the check to the state.
(c) The department shall:
(A) Attempt to recover the debt if it is cost-effective to do
so;
(B) Notify the obligor or withholder who presented the check
that the obligor or withholder owes the money to the state; and
(C) Specify the amount of the debt to be paid to the
department.
(d) The amount of the debt specified in paragraph (c) of this
subsection is a liquidated debt and a delinquent amount owed to
the state. The department may recover the debt in any way
permitted under law.
(6)(a) When a motion has been filed to terminate, vacate or set
aside a support order or to modify a support order to zero, the
department may suspend enforcement of the support order if:
(A) Collection of support would result in a credit balance if
the motion were granted; or
(B) The order is being terminated or modified to zero because
the obligor has physical custody of the child.
(b) When enforcement is to be suspended under this subsection,
the obligee shall be notified and may object on the basis that
the child is not in the physical custody of the obligor or that
the obligee has not consented to the child being in the physical
custody of the obligor. When the obligee files an objection under
this paragraph, the department may not suspend enforcement.
(c) As used in this subsection, 'credit balance' means that
payments have been made in excess of all amounts owed by an
obligor for ongoing and past due child support.
(7) The department shall adopt rules to carry out the
provisions of this section.
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